Recording control apparatus and recording control method

ABSTRACT

According to one embodiment, a recording control apparatus includes a setup module and a controller. The setup module is configured to set, in accordance with designation of a device, an adaptive data format which is adaptive to the device. The controller is configured to execute control to record input data by the adaptive data format.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application is based upon and claims the benefit of priority fromJapanese Patent Application No. 2010-162164, filed Jul. 16, 2010; theentire contents of which are incorporated herein by reference.

FIELD

Embodiments described herein relate generally to a recording controlapparatus and a recording control method, which execute control torecord input data.

BACKGROUND

In recent years, a recording/reproducing apparatus, which can record andreproduce digital TV broadcast, have been gaining in popularity. Thisrecording/reproducing apparatus can record digital TV broadcast in ahard disk drive (HDD) or a digital versatile disk (DVD).

Further, there has been proposed a recording/reproducing apparatus whichcan record digital TV broadcast in a card-type recording medium such asan SD memory card. By recording video content in an SD memory card bythis recording/reproducing apparatus, it becomes possible to reproducethe video content recorded in the SD memory card by an external device,such as a mobile terminal, which supports SD memory cards.

In the above-described recording/reproducing apparatus, video content isrecorded in the SD memory card by a pre-designated data format. If theexternal device does not support the designated data format, theexternal device cannot reproduce the video content recorded in the SDmemory card.

In order to avoid this situation, for example, the user checks theadaptive data format which is adaptive to the external device, and setsup the recording/reproducing apparatus so as to record the video contentin the SD memory card by the adaptive data format. This setup operationis time-consuming for the user. Besides, this setup operation isdifficult for users who are not familiar with data formats.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

A general architecture that implements the various features of theembodiments will now be described with reference to the drawings. Thedrawings and the associated descriptions are provided to illustrate theembodiments and not to limit the scope of the invention.

FIG. 1 shows an example of a device-adaptive format select OSD screen;

FIG. 2 is a flow chart illustrating an example of a first adaptive dataformat setup process;

FIG. 3 is a flow chart illustrating an example of a second datarecording process for recording content data by both a standard dataformat and an adaptive data format;

FIG. 4 shows an example of a correspondency table; and

FIG. 5 is a block diagram illustrating a schematic structure of a videorecording/reproducing apparatus (recording control apparatus) accordingto first to fourth embodiments.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

Various embodiments will be described hereinafter with reference to theaccompanying drawings.

In general, according to one embodiment, a recording control apparatusincludes a setup module and a controller. The setup module is configuredto set, in accordance with designation of a device, an adaptive dataformat which is adaptive to the device. The controller is configured toexecute control to record input data by the adaptive data format.

First to fourth embodiments will now be described with reference to theaccompanying drawings.

FIG. 5 is a block diagram illustrating a schematic structure of a videorecording/reproducing apparatus (recording control apparatus) accordingto the first to fourth embodiments. In the first to fourth embodiments,a device-adaptive recording process by the video recording/reproducingapparatus is described. The embodiments, however, are not limited to thedevice-adaptive recording process by the video recording/reproducingapparatus. For example, the device-adaptive recording process, which isdescribed in the first to fourth embodiments, is applicable to a digitalbroadcast receiver (digital TV) having a recording function.

As shown in FIG. 5, a video recording/reproducing apparatus 1 comprisesa user operation input module 101, a signal light-reception module 102,a communication module 103, a control module (CPU) 104, a tuner module105, a memory module 106, an OSD control module 107, arecording/reproducing signal processing module 108, a mixing processmodule 109, a disk drive module 110, a hard disk drive module 111, and amedia interface 112.

The control module 104 controls an operation of recording a program andan operation of reproducing a program. In addition, the control module104 controls execution of a device-adaptive recording process which willbe described later. The communication module 103 can be connected to aserver 202 via a network 201, and can transmit various information tothe server 202 and receive various information from the server 202. Thetuner module 105 selects a broadcast signal of a designated channel, andinputs the selected broadcast signal to the recording/reproducing signalprocessing module 108.

When a recording process is designated, the recording/reproducing signalprocessing module 108 inputs program content data (video signal andaudio signal) corresponding to the broadcast signal to at least one ofthe disk drive module 110, hard disk drive module 111 and mediainterface 112.

The disk drive module 110 records input program content data on anoptical disk D, such as a DVD or a BD (Blu-ray) (trademark), in astandard data format (default data format) which is adaptive to a mediumthat is a target of recording. Specifically, when program content datais recorded on a DVD, the disk drive module 110 records the programcontent data on the DVD by a predetermined data format (standard dataformat) which is adaptive to DVD specifications. When program contentdata is recorded on a BD, the disk drive module 110 records the programcontent data on the BD by a predetermined data format (standard dataformat) which is adaptive to BD specifications.

Similarly, the hard disk drive module 111 records input program contentdata in a hard disk by a standard data format (default data format)which is adaptive to a medium that is a target of recording.

The media interface 112 records, according to the device-adaptiverecording process, input program content data in media (e.g. an SD card301) by a device-adaptive data format. The device-adaptive recordingprocess will be described later in detail.

For example, a mobile terminal 302 includes a media slot for the SD card301, and the mobile terminal 302 supports one or a plurality of dataformats. Hereinafter, a data format which is supported by the mobileterminal 302 is referred to as “support data format”. Specifically, themobile terminal 302 can reproduce program content data of a support dataformat, which is recorded in the SD card 301, but cannot reproduceprogram content data of a non-support data format, which is recorded inthe SD card 301.

When a reproduction process is designated, the recording/reproducingsignal processing module 108 outputs program content data correspondingto a broadcast signal to a video display device M (digital TV) includinga speaker or the like, via the mixing process module 109.

Next, an example of various operations through a remote-controller 102 ais described. Various operations through the user operation input module101 are substantially identical to various operations through theremote-controller 102 a, and thus a description of the former isomitted.

The remote-controller 102 a includes a plurality of keys, and transmitsinstructions which are input through these keys. The signallight-reception module 102 receives an instruction from theremote-controller 102 a, and notifies the instruction to the controlmodule 104.

Next, the device-adaptive recording process is described.

First Embodiment

To begin with, referring to FIG. 1 and FIG. 2, a device designationprocess is described, and further a first adaptive data format setupprocess, which corresponds to the designation of a device, is described.FIG. 1 shows an example of a device-adaptive format select OSD screen.FIG. 2 is a flow chart illustrating an example of the first adaptivedata format setup process.

For example, if the remote-controller 102 a transmits a displayinstruction for displaying the device-adaptive format select OSD screen,in accordance with the user's operation of the remote-controller 102 a,the control module 104 receives, via the signal light-reception module102, the display instruction for displaying the device-adaptive formatselect OSD screen, and a screen generation module 1041 controls thegeneration of the device-adaptive format select OSD screen.

The screen generation module 1041 controls the generation of thedevice-adaptive format select OSD screen, based on device-adaptiveformat select OSD screen generation information which is stored in thememory module 106. The communication module 103 can download the latestdevice-adaptive format select OSD screen generation information from theserver 202 via the network 201. Thereby, the memory module 106 can storethe latest device-adaptive format select OSD screen generationinformation.

A screen display/select accept module 1042 controls the display of thedevice-adaptive format select OSD screen. The OSD control module 107generates the device-adaptive format select OSD screen, based on thedevice-adaptive format select OSD screen generation information, andoutputs the device-adaptive format select OSD screen to the mixingprocess module 109. Based on the OSD control of the OSD control module107, the mixing process module 109 can output only the video of thedevice-adaptive format select OSD screen, can output video in which thevideo of the device-adaptive format select OSD screen is superimposed onthe video of a predetermined program, or can output the video of apredetermined program and the video of the device-adaptive format selectOSD screen. Thereby, the video display device M displays thedevice-adaptive format select OSD screen.

As shown in FIG. 1, the device-adaptive format select OSD screenincludes the kind of device, the maker name of the device, and the modelnumber of the device. For example, in the initial state, thedevice-adaptive format select OSD screen displays a list of the kinds ofdevices. If a predetermined device is selected from this device listdisplay via the remote-controller 102 a, the screen display/selectaccept module 1042 accepts the selection of the predetermined device.Subsequently, the device-adaptive format select OSD screen displays alist of maker names of the selected predetermined device. If apredetermined maker name is selected from the maker name list displayvia the remote-controller 102 a, the screen display/select accept module1042 accepts the selection of the predetermined maker name, andsubsequently the device-adaptive format select OSD screen displays alist of model numbers of the predetermined maker name of thepredetermined device. If a predetermined model number is selected fromthe model number list display via the remote-controller 102 a, thescreen display/select accept module 1042 accepts the selection of thepredetermined model name, and the designation of the device is completed(BLOCK 101).

Following the above, an adaptive-format registration module 1043 refersto a correspondency table stored in the memory module 106, searches anadaptive data format which corresponds to the designated device (modelnumber), and sets the adaptive data format which corresponds to thedesignated device (model number) (Yes in BLOCK 102) (BLOCK 103).

FIG. 4 shows an example of the correspondency table. As shown in FIG. 4,for example, a terminal A (model number A) is associated with a formatA, a terminal B (model number B) is associated with a format B, and aterminal C (model number C) is associated with a format C. In otherwords, the terminal A (model number A) supports the format A, theterminal B (model number B) supports the format B, and the terminal C(model number C) supports the format C.

Thus, when the designated device (model number) is the terminal A(device A), the adaptive-format registration module 1043 refers to thecorrespondency table stored in the memory module 106, and sets theformat A. When the designated device (model number) is the terminal B(device B), the adaptive-format registration module 1043 refers to thecorrespondency table stored in the memory module 106, and sets theformat B. When the designated device (model number) is the terminal C(device C), the adaptive-format registration module 1043 refers to thecorrespondency table stored in the memory module 106, and sets theformat C.

If the memory module 106 does not store the correspondency table (No inBLOCK 102), or if the correspondency table stored in the memory module106 is old (i.e. if the correspondency table has not been updated for aperiod longer than a predetermined period), an expansion tableacquisition module 1044 downloads a correspondency table (expansiontable) from the server 202 via the communication module 103 (BLOCK 104),and updates the correspondency table in the memory module 106 to thelatest correspondency table. Thereby, the adaptive-format registrationmodule 1043 can refer to the latest correspondency table stored in thememory module 106, and can search and set an adaptive data format whichcorresponds to the designated device (model number), and sets theadaptive data format which corresponds to the designated device (modelnumber) (BLOCK 103).

Alternatively, when the memory module 106 does not store thecorrespondency table (No in BLOCK 102), the adaptive-format registrationmodule 1043 sets a default format (BLOCK 104).

In the above description, the case has been described in which thenumber of adaptive data formats, which correspond to the designateddevice, is one. However, the number of adaptive data formats, whichcorrespond to the designated device, may be two or more.

Next, a first data recording process by the adaptive data format isdescribed.

In accordance with the user's instruction for program recording, thecontrol module 104 executes a first data recording process by anadaptive data format. Specifically, an adaptive format datarecording/output module 1045 executes control to record input data(video stream data) by an adaptive data format. Thus, simply by the userdesignating the device (e.g. mobile terminal 302) in advance, asdescribed above, the adaptive format data recording/output module 1045executes control to record content in a designated medium (SD card 301)by an adaptive data format which is supported by the designated device(e.g. mobile terminal 302).

In accordance with this, the recording/reproducing signal processingmodule 108 converts the content data to the adaptive data format, andoutputs the content data of the adaptive data format to, e.g. the SDcard 301. Thus, the content data of the adaptive data format is recordedin the SD card 301.

For example, simply by loading the SD card 301 in the mobile terminal302, the user can surely view, with the mobile terminal 302, the contentdata (the content data of the adaptive data format) which is recorded inthe SD card 301.

In the above description, the case has been described in which thecontent data of the adaptive data format is recorded in the SD card 301.Alternatively, the content data of the adaptive data format may berecorded on the hard disk. In this case, for example, the videorecording/reproducing apparatus 1 and the mobile terminal 302 areconnected by, e.g. a USB, and the content data of the adaptive dataformat, which is recorded on the hard disk of the videorecording/reproducing apparatus 1, can be copied or moved from the videorecording/reproducing apparatus 1 to the mobile terminal 302 by anoperation such as a drag-and-drop operation.

In this case, too, by a simple operation such as a drag-and-dropoperation, the user can surely view the content data (the content dataof the adaptive data format) by the mobile terminal 302.

In the above description, the case has been described in which therecording/reproducing signal processing module 108 converts the contentdata to one adaptive data format, and records the converted content dataof the adaptive data format. Alternatively, when a plurality of adaptivedata formats are set, the recording/reproducing signal processing module108 may convert the content data to the plural adaptive data formats,and records the converted content data of the plural adaptive dataformats.

In the meantime, after content data is recorded by a standard dataformat (default data format), the device designation process and thefirst adaptive data format setup process may be executed, and thereafterthe first data recording process may be executed. Specifically, inaccordance with the user's instruction for program recording, thecontrol module 104 executes control to record the content data by thestandard format (first data format). In accordance with this, forexample, the hard disk drive module 111 records the content data of thestandard data format on the hard disk. Subsequently, if the devicedesignation process is executed, the first adaptive data format setupprocess is executed, the first data recording process is executed, thecontent data of the standard data format (first data format) recorded onthe hard disk is converted to content data of the adaptive data format(second data format), and the converted content data of the adaptivedata format is recorded.

Second Embodiment

In the first embodiment, the first data recording process, which recordscontent data by the adaptive data format, has been described. In thesecond embodiment, a description is given of a second data recordingprocess which records content data by both the standard data format(first data format) and the adaptive data format (second data format).FIG. 3 is a flow chart illustrating an example of the second datarecording process which records content data by both the standard dataformat and the adaptive data format.

As shown in FIG. 3, in accordance with the user's instruction forprogram recording, the control module 104 executes the second datarecording process by the standard data format and the adaptive dataformat. Specifically, the adaptive format data recording/output module1045 executes control to record input data (content data) by thestandard data format and the adaptive data format. Thus, simply by theuser designating the device (e.g. mobile terminal 302) in advance, asdescribed above, the adaptive format data recording/output module 1045executes control to record content data in a designated medium (e.g.hard disk) by the standard data format, and also executes control torecord content in a designated medium (e.g. hard disk or SD card 301) bythe data format which is supported by the designated device (e.g. mobileterminal 302).

In accordance with this, the recording/reproducing signal processingmodule 108 converts the content data to the standard data format, andthe hard disk drive module 111, for example, records the content data ofthe standard data format on the hard disk. Further, therecording/reproducing signal processing module 108 converts the contentdata to the adaptive data format, and the hard disk drive module 111,for example, records the content data of the adaptive data format on thehard disk (BLOCK 301) (BLOCK 302).

Alternatively, the recording/reproducing signal processing module 108converts the content data to the standard data format, and the hard diskdrive module 111, for example, records the content data of the standarddata format on the hard disk. Further, the recording/reproducing signalprocessing module 108 converts the content data to the adaptive dataformat, and outputs the content data of the adaptive data format to theSD card 301.

When the content data of the adaptive data format is recorded on thehard disk, the recording/reproducing signal processing module 108transfers the content data of the adaptive data format, which isrecorded on the hard disk, to the SD card 301, for example, inaccordance with a data transfer instruction by the user (BLOCK 303).Accordingly, the content data of the standard data format is recorded onthe hard disk, and the content data of the adaptive data format isrecorded in the SD card 301. In the meantime, it is assumed that therecording/reproducing signal processing module 108 can reproducerecorded data which is recorded, at least, by the standard data format.

For example, simply by loading the SD card 301 in the mobile terminal302, the user can surely view, with the mobile terminal 302, the contentdata (the content data of the adaptive data format) which is recorded inthe SD card 301 (BLOCK 304). Moreover, the user can view, with the videorecording/reproducing apparatus 1, the content data (the content data ofthe standard data format) which is recorded in the hard disk drive.

Third Embodiment

In the second embodiment, the second data recording process, whichrecords content data by both the standard data format (first dataformat) and adaptive data format (second data format), has beendescribed. In the third embodiment, a description is given of a thirddata recording process which records content data by the standard dataformat (first data format) and the adaptive data format (second dataformat) at the same timing, and a fourth data recording process whichrecords content data by the standard data format (first data format) andthe adaptive data format (second data format) at different timings.

As described above, the control module 104 executes the third datarecording process by the standard data format and adaptive data format.For example, the adaptive format data recording/output module 1045executes control to record content data by both the standard data formatand the adaptive data format at the same timing. Thereby, immediatelyafter the recording of the content data, the content data of theadaptive data format can be used.

Alternatively, the control module 104 executes the fourth data recordingprocess by the standard data format and adaptive data format. Forexample, the adaptive format data recording/output module 1045 executescontrol to record content data by both the standard data format and theadaptive data format at different timings. For example, the adaptiveformat data recording/output module 1045 preferentially executes therecording of content data by the standard data format, and executes,after the completion of the recording of content data by the standarddata format, the recording of content data by the adaptive data format.For example, the adaptive format data recording/output module 1045executes the recording of content data by the adaptive data format in adesignated time zone (late-night time zone). Thereby, even if theprocessing capability of the recording/reproducing signal processingmodule 108, etc. is low, it becomes possible to record the content databy a plurality of adaptive data formats. Moreover, since therecording/reproducing signal processing module 108 has an excesscapability while recording the content data of the standard data format,the recording/reproducing signal processing module 108 can execute aparallel process, such as reproducing other content data.

Aside from the above, content data of an adaptive data format may beprepared in a manner as described below. For example, if the controlmodule 104 detects, for example, additional recording of new contentdata (content data of the standard data format), the adaptive formatdata recording/output module 1045 may generate and record content dataof an adaptive data format corresponding to the new content data.Thereby, both the standard data format and the adaptive data format areprepared for all content data, and the convenience is enhanced.

Fourth Embodiment

In the first embodiment, the first adaptive data format setup processcorresponding to the designation of the device has been described. Inthe fourth embodiment, a description is given of a second adaptive dataformat setup process corresponding to the designation of the device andthe designation of the data format.

For example, in the case where the device A has been designated throughthe device-adaptive format select OSD screen shown in FIG. 1 and thedevice A supports a format A1 and a format A2, the device-adaptiveformat select OSD screen displays a select item for selecting oneadaptive data format from a plurality of candidate data formats (formatA1 and format A2). If the user selects the format A1, the screendisplay/select accept module 1042 accepts the selection of the format A1and the adaptive-format registration module 1043 sets the format A1. Ifthe user selects the format A2, the screen display/select accept module1042 accepts the selection of the format A2 and the adaptive-formatregistration module 1043 sets the format A2. Thereby, when one devicesupports a plurality of data formats (i.e. when one device can reproducedata of a plurality of data formats), the adaptive data format can beset in accordance with the user's preference.

In the meantime, the adaptive-format registration module 1043 maypreferentially (automatically) set either the format A1 or the formatA2. In other words, even in the case where the user has designated thedevice A, and the device A supports the format A1 and format A2, theadaptive-format registration module 1043 preferentially (automatically)sets either the format A1 or the format A2.

According to the above-described first to fourth embodiments, simply bythe user designating a device on the GUI screen, the videorecording/reproducing apparatus 1 sets the adaptive data format which isadaptive to the designated device, converts content data to the adaptivedata format, and records the content data of the adaptive data format.Specifically, the video recording/reproducing apparatus 1 does notrecord content data by converting the content data to a designated dataformat, but the video recording/reproducing apparatus 1 records contentdata by converting the content data to an adaptive data format which isadaptive to a designated device. Even if the user is not familiar withdata formats, it is possible to obtain data of an adaptive data formatwhich is adaptive to a device that is to be used by the user.

In the above-described first to fourth embodiments, the transcode by thevideo recording/reproducing apparatus 1 has been described. However, forexample, the video recording/reproducing apparatus 1 can re-encode MPEG2content data of BS/CS broadcast to content data of MPEG4AVC forsmartphones.

The first to fourth embodiments may be summarized as follows.

(1) The video recording/reproducing apparatus 1 can convert, at the sametiming, content data to the standard data format (first data format) andthe adaptive data format (second data format) that is adaptive to thedesignated device, and can record, at the same timing, the content dataof the standard data format and the content data of the adaptive dataformat.

(2) The video recording/reproducing apparatus 1 can convert, atdifferent timings based on a predetermined event, content data to thestandard data format (first data format) and the adaptive data format(second data format) that is adaptive to the designated device, and canrecord, at different timings based on a predetermined event, the contentdata of the standard data format and the content data of the adaptivedata format.

Thus, for example, when the user possesses a smartphone, the user canobtain content data of an adaptive data format which is reproducible bythe smartphone, simply by designating this smartphone in the videorecording/reproducing apparatus 1. In other words, the videorecording/reproducing apparatus 1 records content data by an adaptivedata format which is supported by a designated smartphone. The contentdata of the adaptive data format, which has been recorded by the videorecording/reproducing apparatus 1, can be moved to the smartphone bywire, or wirelessly, or via recording media. Thereby, the content datacan surely be viewed by the smartphone.

The above-described modules may be realized by hardware, or by softwarewith use of a CPU, etc.

The various modules of the embodiments described herein can beimplemented as software applications, hardware and/or software modules,or components on one or more computers, such as servers. While thevarious modules are illustrated separately, they may share some or allof the same underlying logic or code.

All of the processes described above may be embodied in, and fullyautomated via, software code modules executed by one or more generalpurpose or special purpose computers or processors. The code modules maybe stored on any type of computer-readable medium or other computerstorage device or collection of storage devices. Some or all of themethods may alternatively be embodied in specialized computer hardware.

While certain embodiments have been described, these embodiments havebeen presented by way of example only, and are not intended to limit thescope of the inventions. Indeed, the novel embodiments described hereinmay be embodied in a variety of other forms; furthermore, variousomissions, substitutions and changes in the form of the embodimentsdescribed herein may be made without departing from the spirit of theinventions. The accompanying claims and their equivalents are intendedto cover such forms or modifications as would fall within the scope andspirit of the inventions.

1. A recording control apparatus comprising: a setup module configuredto set, based on a device designation, an adaptive data format, theadaptive data format adaptive to the designated device; and a controllerconfigured to record input data based on the adaptive data format. 2.The apparatus of claim 1, further comprising: a reproducer configured toreproduce recorded data, the recorded data in a standard data format,wherein the setup module is configured to set the standard data formatand wherein the controller is configured to record the input data fromthe standard data format based on the adaptive data format.
 3. Theapparatus of claim 1, further comprising: a recorder configured torecord input data in the adaptive data format based on the controller.4. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the controller is configured torecord video stream data based on the adaptive data format.
 5. Theapparatus of claim 1, wherein the setup module is configured todetermine the adaptive data format which the designated device iscapable of reproducing.
 6. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the setupmodule is configured to select, based on a data format select condition,the adaptive data format from a plurality of candidate data formatswhich the designated device is capable of reproducing.
 7. The apparatusof claim 1, wherein the setup module is configured to output informationrelating to a plurality of candidate data formats which the designateddevice is capable of reproducing, and to set the adaptive data formatwhich is selected from the plurality of candidate data formats.
 8. Theapparatus of claim 2, wherein the controller is configured to record theinput data by the standard data format, and to record the input databased on the adaptive data format after completion of the input datarecording based on the standard data format.
 9. A recording controlmethod comprising: setting, in accordance with designation of a device,an adaptive data format which is adaptive to the designated device; andexecuting control to record input data based on the adaptive dataformat.